1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed in Applicant's earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,142,345, 6,986,443; 6,945,433; and 6,945,432 and the co-pending application relate to dosing and/or dispensing systems. The instant invention relates to an improved throat plug assembly for use in dispensing and/or dosing systems. More particularly, the improved throat plug assembly of the invention utilizes a plastic spring rather than a metal spring. In the preferred embodiment, the plastic spring is molded with the retainer or the throat plug assembly thereby enabling the entire throat plug assembly to be comprised of a recyclable plastic material and which also reduces the number of component parts of the throat plug assembly thereby further enhancing the assembly of the throat plug assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Applicant's earlier U.S. patents, which are identified hereinabove, dosing and/or dispensing systems are disclosed for use with a liquid container such as a bottle or the like for dosing and/or dispensing liquid contents from the bottle. Various different dosing and/or dispensing embodiments are disclosed in Applicant's earlier patents which enable the liquid to be dosed or dispensed by gravity from the container. In Applicant's earlier patents, an inverted liquid container such as a bottle or the like is screwed onto a fixture which is in communication with the open upper end of a hollow cup or bowl which normally has a predetermined volume. It is desirable to dose a predetermined volume or amount of liquid from the container into a spray bottle or the like which will be used to spray a mixture of water and the liquid chemical onto surfaces to be cleaned. Although Applicant's earlier inventions work extremely well, the invention of the co-pending application represented a further advance in the art due to the unique venting of the components of the assembly so that air locks are prevented and so that the liquid will freely flow therefrom in precise amounts. In Applicant's earlier throat plug assemblies, which were an important part in the dispensing and/or dosing systems, a metal spring was utilized to yieldably maintain the valve in the throat plug assembly in a closed position with a separate cap or retainer holding the metal spring in position. An ecological problem exists with the use of a metal spring in an otherwise completely recyclable plastic throat plug assembly since the metal spring must be removed from the throat plug assembly which is being discarded to enable the other plastic components of the throat plug assembly to be recycled. In many cases, the discarded throat plug assemblies were simply thrown into the trash due to the cost of removing the metal spring from the throat plug assembly. Further, in Applicant's earlier throat plug assemblies, the metal spring and the retainer thereof were separate pieces or parts thereby requiring separate manufacture and separate assembly into the throat plug assembly.